The Mermaid's Mirror - L. K. Madigan [18]
A wet head rose between the two dolphins. Was it a sea lion? How cool! It was like they were playing. She lifted her arm to wave at the sea lion.
No, the head was bigger and rounder than a sea lion's, without the characteristic snout. Lena's arm dropped as the head rose farther out of the water.
It was a woman.
The hair on the back of Lena's neck stood up. Her eyes widened. Was she seeing things? How could a woman be swimming out there in the middle of the ocean? Between two dolphins? Lena didn't blink.
The woman saw her, too, and seemed to be looking back just as intently. Lena could see the pale face, so definitely not a sea lion's face, but the woman was too far away for Lena to make out her features. As they stared at each other, the woman seemed to rise higher on the water in an effort to see Lena. Her bare white shoulders were above the surface now.
It's really a woman, thought Lena. Not a sea lion. She must be freezing ... she doesn't have a wetsuit on!
Just as Lena was beginning to think she should run for help, the woman disappeared below the surface, leaving a ruffled patch of empty water behind.
Oh, my God, is she drowning? thought Lena, her heart racing. I can't just stand here and let someone drown!
Agonized, she waited to see if the woman would come up for air again. Just as she was about to turn and run, she thought she saw the head break the surface again, slightly closer now. She peered out to sea, wondering if she should call to her.
It was definitely a woman. Her face was still too far away to be clear to Lena, but it looked as if her mouth was open in astonishment.
They stared at each other, as if no one else on earth existed, a long silent moment of vision. Then, as Lena opened her mouth to call out, the woman disappeared below the surface again. As she dove, a glistening silver tail flashed out of the water and disappeared back into the sea.
***
Heart racing, the mermaid dove. She swam in a panic, her thoughts scattering like frightened fish. No, oh, no, her mind wailed. No.
CHAPTER 10
Lena stood perfectly still in the same spot, trembling, for the next five minutes.
If she could believe her eyes, she had just seen a mermaid. If she had only imagined that flashing tail, then there was a woman out there in the frigid ocean. And if there was a woman out there, she was either drowning or swimming under water to some location where Lena could not see her, because Lena's eyes never left the water.
Finally, unwillingly, she turned to walk back down the beach, her legs shaky. The woman was gone, and so were the dolphins.
Lena felt the first tickle of belief in her belly: That was no human woman. That was a mermaid.
A tiny laugh escaped her throat. Mermaids were real.
She stopped and stared back at the sea. Was she really gone? Was it over, the moment of magic ended already? Come back, she thought. Please.
The mermaid had been playing with the two dolphins, Lena was sure of it. Out there in the vast deep lived a fairy-tale creature who was real, who was alive. Who played with dolphins. Who probably ate and slept, because didn't all living things need to eat and sleep? Who lived alone ... or maybe with other mermaids! Lena's breath caught as she imagined a whole gathering of ... what did you call a group of mermaids? A mist of mermaids? A marvel of mermaids?
She had to go, thought Lena. They don't want to be seen.
Lena broke into a run. She needed to do something physical, something that would help her body catch up to the rapid beat of her heart.
When she got to the rocks, Lena stopped and put her hands on the rough stones, feeling the solid reality of them. Already, doubts were surfacing.
It was a woman.
Of course it was.
She was out for an early-mornings wim.
With no wetsuit? argued Lena's practical mind. And what about that tail?
There was no tail.
It was a trick of the light on the waves.
Lena nodded. She was always seeing